This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Gro-ables Project for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Do you think you don’t have enough space to garden? You’d be quite surprised. Even those living in an apartment with a tiny patch of grass to call their own can grow a good amount of vegetables for their family. Whether you rethink how you grow or really consider the needs of your family, the following are excellent tips for gardening in a small space with kids.

Starting a garden with your children is also the perfect way to get over the Winter blues. I can’t tell you how much happier my whole family is when we can get outside! Gardening in small spaces even gives us a chance to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and warmth that our vegetables and fruits do too!

1. Consider Your Family’s Needs When you don’t have a lot of room to work with, you want to stick with fruits and vegetables your family will actually eat. This is also super important when you’re getting your kids involved as they’ll be more excited to help if you’re planting foods they like. Now’s not the time to be adventurous. Stick with produce that can be used in a variety of dishes. For example, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, and lettuces can be used in so many different dishes. It’s important to opt for the fruits and vegetables your family eats most often and will grow well in your region. Of course, if you have a little extra space, let your child pick a seed type or two so they feel more involved!

2. Use Raised Garden Beds and Tiered Planters Is your backyard nothing but patio? No problem! A raised garden bed or tiered planter will allow you to make use of the area. Raised garden beds can be purchased rather inexpensively and with a bit of gardening plastic and good quality potting mix you can turn any area into a garden. You can even DIY your own if you like to build. Tiered planters allow you to make the most of a sunny corner of the yard and allow you to grow a variety of tasty produce in a very small area.

One of my favorite ways to grow spinach and different types of lettuce are in flower pots on the patio. Not only do they take up a small amount of space, but they’re kept close making it easier to harvest your lettuce for salads regularly.

3. Choose Plants That Create Quantity in a Small Space If you don’t have a lot of room to work with you want to make sure you’re choosing produce that has a high-yield. Examples include lettuce, carrots, onions, and vertically growing plants such as peppers and tomatoes. The more you can get from a plant, the better. In some cases, like with tomatoes, you may grow so many that you need to can the produce for later use.

One of my favorite ways to grow plants in our garden is by using Miracle-Gro Gro-ables. Gro-ables contain a seed placed at exactly the right depth inside a biodegradable seed pod, that provides just the right growing environment for your seed, and eventually your herb or vegetable plant to thrive! One of my biggest issues with planting seeds is always the depth and how many seeds go where… that’s why I love the concept of Gro-ables! They take the guesswork out of gardening and make gardening in small spaces with kids even easier.

Growing with Miracle-Gro Gro-ables is so incredibly simple too! Everything you need to grow a fruit, herb, or vegetable can be found in this seed pod. All you need to do is add the pod to the container of your choice, water regularly and watch as the seeds grow into a beautiful, delicious vegetable or fruit!

4. Grow Up with Vertical Gardening Vertical garden is a genius idea for those that have zero space to work with. You can easily convert a wooden pallet or hanging shoe organizer into a planter for herbs and smaller plants. Depending on how creative you are, you can also create small garden beds on a stand so that you can grow larger plants. You can even use hanging baskets to grown tomatoes and strawberries.

5. Take the Garden Indoors Last, but not least, put your windows to good use. You can grow a wonderful herb garden in your kitchen window. Everything from chives to dill to parsley can be grown in a small window garden. You’ll have an abundance of herbs to add wonderful flavor to your meals and you’ll save a fortune over buying fresh herbs at the grocery store.

This year, my daughter and I planted herbs from our Gro-ables right into mason jars. Not only will they be right in the kitchen at an arm’s length for when I need a sprig of Parsely or Basil, but they’ll be beautiful blooming in our kitchen window! If you’re looking for even more garden projects, be sure to visit the Gro-ables Project.

Don’t let your small space limit you. There are so many great ways to grow the fruits and vegetables your family needs in a small space. If you really want to garden, think outside the box and don’t be afraid to give up a little patio and yard space for something much, much better than grass! By involving your children in your gardening efforts, you’ll be instilling in them a love for growing their own food and encouraging them to try new foods.

What are your questions or tips for gardening in small spaces with kids?

Just a couple of weeks ago I shared an exclusive review of Sweetie Pie Organics newest organic baby snack, Tiny Wafers. My girls have been snacking on them since we got them and I’ve even gifted a few to mothers with young toddlers and they have all asked me where they can get more!

Sweetie Pie Organics just launched their Amazon store – so real fruit and vegetable organic baby snacks are just a click away for everyone now! To celebrate the launch of Tiny Wafers and their Amazon store, Sweetie Pie Organics wanted to give one lucky Blogging Mamas reader, actually the kiddo of the Blogging Mamas reader will be the lucky one, a case of Tiny Wafers – that’s 12 boxes!

Sweetie Pie Organics Tiny Wafers are organic, non-GMO, contain no preservatives, food coloring, artificial flavors, and have no sugar added. The wafers are the perfect size for little fingers and really easy to bite. The texture and consistency is like a very thin, soft cracker but with a crunch that’s perfect for little mouths too because they dissolve easily. The wafers are recommended for babies 12 months and up. Each box contains a 1 oz bag of wafers and come in 3 different flavors: Apple Tiny Wafers, Sweet Beet Tiny Wafers, and Carrot Tiny Wafers with Cumin.

This post is brought to you by a collaboration with Oklahoma Skinny Wrap Girls.

Perhaps you’ve come across an It Works! Distributor or blog review online – as they seem to be popping up around the blog-o-sphere lately. I admit, before Megan from Oklahoma Skinny Wrap Girls contacted me, I didn’t know much about the products. So I browsed her site online, read as much as I could so I could share what I learned with you!

It Works! officially launched in 2001 with their most widely known product, the Ultimate Body Applicator. When I see reviews and posts about It Works! on other blogs they are almost always about the Ultimate Body Applicator [and I’ll share more about that product below too], but little did I know that It Works! has a large line of products for consumers!

Premium Supplements were added to their line of products in 2005 and since then even more products have been added, including Body and Facial Creams and Cleansers.

In addition to Supplements and Skin products, the Greens product line is another range of products to help consumers achieve their ultimate goals.

But at the top of the hierarchy of It Works! products is their first product – the Ultimate Body Applicator. Because of it’s ease of use and results, it’s chosen by customers time and time again.

The Ultimate Body Applicator is a cloth wrap that is infused with a powerful, botanically-based formula that delivers tightening, toning, and firming results where applied to the skin after wearing for just 45 minutes! It has been featured at the Oscars, Grammies, Emmys & more!

Tightens, tones, & firms

Minimizes cellulite appearance

Improves skin texture & tightness

Mess-free and simple to use

Results in as little as 45 minutes

Progressive results over 72 hours

Made with natural ingredients

In addition to offering great products for consumers, It Works! Global offers a business opportunity for individuals looking to start their own business. If you have any questions or interests in joining an It Works! Team as a Distributor, you can contact Megan on her website or by connecting with Oklahoma Skinny Wrap Girls on Facebook and instagram.

What It Works! product would you most like to try?

This post about Saving Money with Clearly Filtered products was inspired by a collaboration with Clearly Filtered. All opinions are my own.

We go through a lot of water in our house, which is totally a brag on my part. I love that my girls drink a lot of water and I’ve been working on upping my water intake since starting my 24 Day Advocare Challenge. The problem is – bottled water can get costly and it’s completely horrible for the environment, especially if you’re not recycling all those bottles!

Clearly Filtered has a remedy for both of those problems and even more – including removing all the yucky stuff [aka Fluoride and many more elements and bad tastes] from your tap water and making it taste just as refreshing as those price-y disposable water bottles!

The company sent me their Clearly Filtered Pitcher since it’s the perfect product for families. It was extremely easy to use, but in case you are wondering what all those attachments are, read along or watch their instructional video here.

Clearly Filtered ships the filters dry, so it’s important to flush the filter [which is what I’m doing above] for a few minutes to get the filter primed and ready to attach within your Pitcher.

The Flushing Bulb attaches to most kitchen sinks [it wouldn’t actually stay attached to mine without me holding it, but it only took a small amount of time for the water to flush through the filter]. Flushing the filter simply makes the process go a little faster once you put the filter into your pitcher.

Once you’re ready for nice, clean, filtered water – you start filling up your pitcher with tap water.

It does take a bit for the water to pass through the filter, so don’t expect it to gush right through. But what exactly IS that filter doing, you may wonder. It’s removing Chlorine, Lead, Mercury, Fluoride, and much more!

We keep the Clearly Filtered Water Pitcher in our refrigerator so we always have access to cool, clean and great tasting filtered water.

The Water Pitcher, which is BPA free, holds 64 ounces of water at one time and the filter will last for 100+ gallons [equivalent to over 1,600 water bottles] before it needs to be replaced. Replacement filters are available at ClearlyFiltered.com.

Now, in the beginning I totally bragged that my girls drink a lot of water and they do, but I do have a little secret. One way that I’ve helped the girls love to drink water even more is by buying the water flavoring packs at the store. Yes, they’re not just technically drinking straight refreshing water, but they’re still getting the great benefits of a cup full of water, just with a little flavoring squeezed in too!

Which Clearly Filtered product would best suit your family or lifestyle?

This conversation about sunscreen application was inspired by a collaboration with Sunscreen Bands. All opinions expressed are my own.

Sunscreen is of the utmost importance to me and my family. I’ve shared with you in the past, but I’m never slow to share again that I’m a Melanoma Survivor [5+ years since my diagnosis] and I will never again take sun exposure and the dangers of it lightly! That’s why when I heard about Sunscreen Bands, I texted a couple of my friends immediately letting them know about the product.

When the brand approached me about trying out the product firsthand, I was touched. I truly was because I already loved the idea behind the bands and couldn’t wait to test them out myself.

Let me explain what the bands are and why they’re used first. Don’t mistake them for sunscreen – they’re not at all. They won’t protect you from sun exposure alone, but they will guide you in protecting yourself and your children’s skin!

Sunscreen Bands are plastic bands that you put on yourself or your child when you’re going to be out in the sun. They’re a physical reminder to re-apply sunscreen at just the right time! How do they work?

When you apply sunscreen to your child’s skin, you also apply the sunscreen to the band. Any type of sunscreen, as long as it has an SPF 15 or higher will work. As your sun exposure continues, the band will slowly lose it’s bright purple color that it gained when it became exposed to the sun – light purple telling you that it’s time to re-apply sunscreen and white telling you that you’ve reached your maximum sun exposure for the day!

Now there are really two trains of thought on Sunscreen Bands – according to friends and family that I talked to – the first, like me, thinks the product is genius and one of those “Why didn’t I think of that?!” or “Where has this been my whole life?!” And then there’s a thought like that of my cynical husband of “Just remember to re-apply sunscreen. Why do you need a bracelet to tell you that?”

Well, dear hubby. You’re not the one who has to remember to re-apply ever hour or so while you’ve got a million other things on your mind and you’re also not the one who has to make your sweet children, who are having the best time ever outside, take a break to re-apply or better yet – go inside! This bracelet has become my scapegoat and imagine my surprise that the girls don’t fuss when the bracelet tells us to re-apply or go inside!

You really can’t beat the price either. You can purchase Sunscreen Bands right on their website and also on Amazon.com. A 10-pack on Amazon retails for $10.00.

The bands are single-use only, but each band will last one whole day, as long as you keep re-applying sunscreen to the band as it tells you it’s needed [don’t forget to re-apply to yourself and your child at that time too!] And although both girls like wearing one, we trade off on who gets to wear a band each day, that way we’re only using 1 per day, but still seeing the benefits of when it’s time to re-apply sunscreen for all of us!

You can connect with Sunscreen Bands by following them on Twitter, my favorite instagram, and liking them on Facebook too!